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Joe Mauer just hit the 15 day DL, and the talk on BBTN is how much longer can he Catch and still be THE offensive force.

There is no doubt that we took Jorge for granted. There are very few who can spend a career behind the plate and also be great hitters.

And as valuable as a great hitting Catcher is, BBTN was talking about whether it's really worth risking the health of the guy who is gonna be THE offensive force. After all, as valuable as Mauer is, he (or another stud Catcher) is usually only valuable for 130 games or so. If he more valuable as a 155 game DH/1Bman?

Which of course leads into the dicussion of our boy Jesus. We all want him so badly to Catch. But are we spoiled by the great luck we have had with Posada? Might it be better to have a Russel Martin type guy behind the plate and save all our Jesus juice to rake with the bat? I mean, Big Papi seemed like a pretty valuable guy, right?

And at worst, Jesus gives depth as a full time #3 Catcher, and as sometimes #2 Catcher... maybe 30 games or so? So ARod and our other elderly can have a 1/2 day off as DH?

How much better might Mauer have been as a full time DH, with no accumulated stress from Catching? 50 OPS pts? 100 OPS pts? Again, as opposed to Papi, being able to Catch 15-20% of the season is a big added advantage to a DH'es role.

We have been spoiled by Posada. It seems like it would be pretty good to have deent Catcher and a .900 OPSing Jesus at DH.